


Right where we belong

by MickeyJrWrites



Series: To build a home [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2018-06-06 18:54:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6765778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MickeyJrWrites/pseuds/MickeyJrWrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a bunch of oneshots following Notecard to the dead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

She was stuck in the horde of people. Seriously, nobody moved, they just hung around in little groups to chatter away like gossiping teenagers.

 _This was supposed to be the future of the world?_ Max scoffed. They were all hopeless.

She could see Natasha and Maria ahead of her, elbowing their way through the crowd. But Max was short, and when the ranks of humans closed behind her mothers, she was left to play catch up.

She did not like it.

She didn’t like anything about it.

SHIELD academy was too big. Too loud. Perfect if she needed to disappear though. This was the exact right place to lose a tail. Not that any of these hopeless recruits would realize.

Max scoffed again. _Idiots_.

“I hear the Deputy Director is visiting today.”

Max stopped when she heard a young man whispering, loudly if she might say so, about her mom.

“I heard her kid is coming to the academy.” Another added.

“She doesn’t have a kid.” Someone said, “Besides, she’s only here because she’s planning to overthrow SHIELD. She wants to be the next Director.”

Max almost smacked that one over the head.

“I don’t think she can be Director. I heard she’s not from this world.”

“Duuuuuude! That is awesome! I’ve never seen an alien before. Does she have tentacles?”

The future of SHIELD. They were all fucked.

“I guess. But she probably hides them.”

“Don’t be stupid!” A girl butted in, and Max almost smiled, finally some common sense, “She’s not an alien. She’s a robot.”

_The world was doomed._

Just the entire world.

The apocalypse should just happen now. If this group of nonsense-talking young adults was supposed to save them, well, they might as well just drop dead now.

“Max? Max, try to stick with us, yeah?” Natasha suddenly pulled on her arm, “Your mom was about to call the helicarrier to search for you.”

“Sorry, I was just… listening in on some conversations.” Max grinned sheepishly, allowing her mama to pull her along.

“Old habits die hard.” Natasha mused, and Max could see the hint of pride in her eyes, “What did you learn?”

“Learn?” Mom butted in, “This is the first day, they’re not going to learn anything yet, right?”

Maria was too worried for her own good. She didn’t want Max at SHIELD or just plain outside. She understood her mom’s worry, but still, it was a little overbearing.

“Heard some rumors.” Max shrugged, “Apparently, you’re half alien, half cyborg, completely terrifying.”

Maria smirked, “Well, at least they got one thing right.”

“And which one is that?” Natasha teased.

“You’ll never know.”

Natasha and Maria shared a laugh and Max grinned along. Though silently in her head, she disagreed. Of course Maria wasn’t an alien or a robot. But mom was not terrifying. Not in the least.

She was warm and soft and her voice was sweet. And she gave her coffee when Natasha wasn’t paying attention.

Mom ruled.

Mama too.

But mom ruled.

“You excited?” Natasha asked when Maria wasn’t paying attention.

“No. I want to go home.” Max said honestly, “There’s too many people here. Mom doesn’t want me to be here. I know you don’t like it either. I certainly don’t like it. I want to go home.”

Natasha’s hand was warm on her shoulder, and Max found herself craving more contact with her ma.

“Why don’t you like it here?” Natasha asked softly, the spy in her always making sure nobody would listen in on their conversations.

“They can’t teach me anything I don’t know.” Max shrugged, “And I… I’m nervous mama. What if they find out what I did?”

Natasha glanced at Maria, checking if she was still occupied with some teachers who couldn’t resist the opportunity to suck up to the deputy director.

“What if they found out?” Natasha pointed her own question back at her, “What  do you think they’ll do?”

“Lock me away.”

Natasha shook her head, “You know they can’t Maxie, Fury gave you full immunity. There’s no consequences for you.”

It wasn’t true though and they both knew it. Sure, there was no active punishment, no cell, nothing like that. But Max felt the consequences of her actions every day, every night. She carried the guilt with her constantly.

Natasha had been woken up by her screams too many times already. Max was free now, but she’d never be able to escape what she did.

“Ma, I just really don’t think I should be here.” Max tried again, “Nobody is going to let me protect the world once they know what I am. I’m not good.”

“They let me do it.” Natasha smirked, “Hell, they asked me to do it. And you know my life isn’t any prettier than yours. You are not your past Max.”

“Everything okay here ladies?” Maria butted her head in, jittery, nervous energy pouring out of her, “We’re ready? Big day, huh? Don’t worry, it’ll be fine, right? You’ll do great.”

“Maria.” Natasha reached out to her wife, “Don’t forget to breath honey.”

“Right, breathing, I can do breathing. No problem-o. See, I’m breathing. I’m fine, you’re fine, the kid is fine.” Maria was almost bouncing of the walls, “Everybody is fine, right? Fine, fine, fine.”

“Mom!” Max chuckled, “Calm down. I got this.”

She purposely ignored the doubtful look Natasha send her. Maria was nervous enough as it was, she didn’t need to know how anxious Max was. Besides, the kid had no doubt Natasha would tell on her as soon as she turned her back.

Mothers just worried too much like that.

“You ready for your speech mom?”

Maria grimaced, “I don’t want to give a speech, I’m not good at speeches. We should have invited Rogers for that.”

“Too bad babe, you’ll have to rally the troops.”

Max scoffed, “And these kids need _a lot_ of rallying.”

“Kids? They are all older than you, little miss.” Natasha teased and Max just stuck her tongue out.

“I’m not that little! I grew half an inch!”

“Did you?” Natasha’s eyes were sparkling, “So you’re what now? One inch tall?”

“Nat, leave her alone.” Maria chastised, “Just because you’re not the shortest for once doesn’t mean you get to tease her. Besides, give it a few months and she’ll be taller than you.”

“Yeah! I’ll be taller!”

Natasha just glared.

“All students requested in the auditorium!” The PA system blared over their heads.

“Well,” Maria sighed, “That’s my cue. I’ll see you guys after the speeches?”

“We’ll be cheering from the front row.” Natasha grinned.

“Oh please don’t cheer ma.”

“Do I embarrass you?”

“You have no idea.”

Natasha lead her through the big doors, her Black Widow glare ensuring they had those promised front row seats.

“Your mom hates speeches.”

“No kidding.”

Natasha shook her head, “Don’t get sassy with me. I was just going to say that you have to tell her she did great after, okay?”

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to go talk to mom after?” Max frowned.

The three of them had agreed that maybe it was better if nobody figured out she was the Commander’s child.

Max thought that maybe people would try and beat her up for it, being the youngest SHIELD student and the boss’s daughter just didn’t scream _I got here on my own talents._

Maria and Natasha were just worried that other students might take advantage of their little girl.

“Maybe when we get home then.”

“Yeah, when we get home.”

Just because they agreed it was best, didn’t mean any of them had to like it.

There was a myriad of speeches by professors, students and some other people Max didn’t really listen to.

“And now, we have a very special guest with us. Please welcome Deputy Director of SHIELD, Commander Maria Hill.”

“ _Romanoff-Hill_.” They both grumbled, but they clapped the loudest when Maria took the stage.

“Good morning to you all, agents, faculty, recruits. It’s a pleasure to be here.” Maria’s voice was a little shaky with nerves, but Max was certain she and Natasha were the only ones who realized.

“Today I would like to welcome you all, not just to SHIELD academy, but to SHIELD as a whole.” Maria didn’t really look at the two of them as she spoke, but Max was in awe of her mommy anyway, “You were all the best of the best of our applicants, and Director Fury and I have full faith that you will succeed at the academy and that you will turn into very fine agents.”

There was some mild applause when she paused.

“But that is the future, and today I would like to talk to you all about the past.” Maria paused, “You see, you aren’t here because you were the fastest in track or the strongest in gym. You were selected on your experiences as well. Some people say that our past haunts us. That bad experiences turn you into a bad person.”

Max felt a moment of dread when she realized Maria had maybe overheard her conversation with Natasha, but her mama placed a soft hand on her knee, anchoring her to her seat.

“I don’t believe this is true. I believe our past forms us, in ways we cannot fathom. I believe that the ones who think they maybe don’t belong here, who can’t believe that there is some good left inside, I believe that those people do not turn into our supervillains and bad guys. They turn out to be the most compassionate agents, capable of showing mercy where they haven’t known any.”

“That is what I want you all to learn here.” Maria continued, “Because SHIELD does not stand for fighting. We do not fight the villains, that is not our core value. SHIELD stands for protection. Protection of those who need it most. Don’t let your past define you, but use it to let it form you into a better agent, a better human. Thank you very much.”

The students applauded their Commander loudly.

“We don’t deserve her.” Natasha whispered through the noise.

“We really don’t.”

Max and Natasha kept their distance from Maria afterwards, when the Commander was shaking the necessary hands. They still followed her like the trained assassins they were, but nobody even realized their presence.

They were awesome like that.

“You guys done playing guard dog?” Maria quirked an eyebrow in their direction, “I’d like to head home. We did say we were going to put together that crib today.”


	2. Chapter 2

_“Oh my god, Nat, please don’t stop.”_ Maria’s entire body was thrumming with pure unadulterated need.

Natasha didn’t even want to pause her ministrations to assure her wife that no, _she would never stop_. Not in a million years.

If she could, she’d stay in that spot forever.

_Tap tap tap._

“Mama? Mommy?”

Natasha groaned in frustration, only the slightest bit thankful that Max had finally learned to knock when she needed them in the middle of the night, instead of barging in like she had done a few times already.

Maria was softly cursing, trying to scramble up but Natasha put her hands on her hips, pinning her back down.

“Come back in five minutes Max!” She hollered to the closed door, Max wasn’t a baby anymore, she could wait.

“O-okay mam-mama…”

“Nat for fucks sakes, she’s crying.” Maria sighed, “Come on babe, get off me.”

Natasha answered her sigh, but she let her wife up. _The joys of being a parent_.

She wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“One second honey, I’ll put some pajamas on, we’ll be right there.” Maria raised her voice so their baby could hear, “We’ll be right there.”

“I need to… wash up first.” Natasha blushed a little, subconsciously wiping her mouth on the back of her hand.

“Good idea.” Maria wore a guilty smirk, momentarily hidden by the shirt she dragged on, “I’m clean.”

“ _I know_.” Natasha huffed in frustration, but she wasn’t really upset.

They put their pajamas on, for once faster than they took them off.

“Come on honey.” Maria put a hand on Max’s shoulder when she opened the door, “Mama needs… Mama will be right there.”

Max sniffled loudly, letting herself be steered to the living room by Maria’s warm hands.

“What’s got you up Tiny?” She asked softly.

“Don’t want to talk about it.”

Maria nodded, they’d gotten used to this now, Max waking them up in tears and then completely shutting them out. She wasn’t upset with the young girl though, if anything she just worried more.

“You want to cuddle then?” It was usually the fastest way to get her back to sleep, even if the couch had left Maria with a stiff neck more than once already.

“No…”

“Maxie?” Natasha reappeared again, “What’s wrong baby?”

They fussed over their small teenager, dragging her down on the couch in between them.

“What’s happening love?”

“I… I have to go.” Max had tears streaming down her face, her voice so strained they could barely understand her.

It broke Maria’s heart, even if she had no idea what was going on.

Natasha wrapped her arm around Max, pulling the girl to her chest, and Maria instinctively followed, squishing their girl between them.

“Go where baby?”

Max sniffled, “Away.”

“Why do you think you have to go?” Maria wanted to know more than anything. Had they done something?

“The baby.” Max whispered into Natasha’s chest.

Natasha had been scared that this would happen. A little voice in the back of her head had warned her that Max might not be so excited to have a sibling. Or that Max was afraid that the new baby might replace her.

She’d tried to tone her excitement for their new addition to the family down as best as possible, for Max. But maybe she hadn’t done the best job.

“We love you just as much as the baby.” Natasha said, “When he or she arrives, they’ll be just as special and loved as you are. We always love you Maxie.”

Max shook her head vehemently, “I can’t… I can’t be with a baby… I could hurt him.”

“You would never.”

“But I could!” Max insisted, “And… and I can’t be a sister… they can’t look up to me. I’m no good.”

“You’re good Max, you are good.” Maria didn’t count how many times she had had to assure Max that she wasn’t evil, she didn’t think she could count that high. No matter what they did, no matter what happened, something inside the girl kept dragging her down.

It reminded her of Natasha.

And it made her too sad to think about.

“Sweet girl.” Natasha sighed, “My sweet girl, you’re good. You’re good baby girl.”

Max was sobbing now, crying into Natasha’s shirt.

“I’ll only hurt him.”

“No you won’t Tiny.” Maria had her hand on Max’s back, rubbing soothing circles, “Did you had a bad dream about that?”

Max nodded, her cries only growing louder.

Natasha cleared her throat, “I… yesterday, after Maria fell asleep, I… I snuck out of the bed.

Maria frowned at her wife, silently asking where she was going with this story.

“I locked myself in the basement.” Natasha sighed, “I’m not proud of it, but the closer we’re getting to the baby… I’m scared shitless guys. So scared. I locked myself in the basement and cried for hours.”

“You should have said something.”

“I’m doing that now.” Her wife smiled, but it felt a bit forced, “You know… you know how people always say that… when you hold your baby for the first time, it’s the greatest thing, right? What if… I’m not raised to be like this, to have this.” She made a vague motion to the two of them resting against her, “What if I can’t love him the way I should?”

“Natasha…”

“I know it’s maybe ridiculous.” Natasha shrugged, “I know that. I mean, look at Max, you know, I love her more than anything. And I _know_ I’ll love our baby just as much… I just keep thinking _what if_.”

Max had grown silent, staring at her mama with a little disbelief. As if she didn’t realize adults got afraid too.

“I heard you sneak out.” Maria felt like she should contribute, “But I couldn’t go after you… I’m scared too. There’s just so much to worry about. What if he doesn’t want two mothers? We can’t go and force our lifestyle on him or her. What if they get bullied for who we are?”

Natasha’s soft hand fell on her own, squeezing reassuringly.

“What if we’re not home enough?” Maria continued, her own insecurities finally bubbling to the surface, “You know? We try, but sometimes… an apocalypse doesn’t wait for bedtime stories. What if I get home one day and suddenly our baby is a grown man… or woman, and I missed all the big things? I don’t want to miss the big things.”

“Me neither.” Natasha said, “And I keep thinking… I’m sorry Maria, but I keep thinking… what if I die on a mission?”

“What if _I_ die on a mission.” Maria countered, “I worry about that too Nattie. Constantly.”

“And what if… maybe he’s going to be a little slow, you know? Which he can be, I don’t mind. But I always imagined being able to teach him some cool tricks, like backflips and stuff?” Natasha blushed a little, “What if he’s bad at physical things? I don’t want to make him feel like I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t like gym or something.”

“What if he has terrible aim and will never be able to shoot a gun?” Maria couldn’t suppress the slight smile on her face at their ridiculous-sounding worries.

“Oh! What if he’s scared of heights?” Natasha wore the beginnings of a smirk.

“What if he doesn’t like flying?”

Natasha’s face lit up, “What if he thinks we’re boring.”

“You are.” Max protested from between her moms, her cheeks still wet with tears, but at least the crying had stopped, “And you’re gross too.”

“Shush you.” Maria grinned, “Oh imagine if he liked drama more than sports.”

“I can watch some terrible high school rendition of Romeo and Juliette, as long as there isn’t any singing.” Natasha shrugged, “What do you say baby girl, you like Romeo and Juliette?”

Max groaned, “I guess we’ll survive.”

“What if he turns out not to like ice hockey?” Natasha teased and Maria shot her a playful glare back.

“Everyone loves the Canucks. Right Tiny?”

“Sure mom.” Max sounded anything but convinced.

“He’ll be perfect.” Natasha decided suddenly, her voice quiet, “And we’ll be panicking all the way, like we do with you honey.”

Someone kissed Max on the head, but she didn’t want to move to check who.

“And… and we’ll worry, but the three of us can do this.” Maria agreed, “And you’ll be a great sister Max. We know you will be. And you can always come to us if you’re scared. We’re here for you.”

Max hummed, not completely convinced by her mothers, but that heavy thumping anxiety that had pulled her out of bed had disappeared a tiny bit.

“He’ll be so loved.” Natasha whispered, “I love him already.”

“Or her.” Maria corrected softly.

“Kid’s fault, she keeps saying it’s a boy.” Natasha poked Max softly.

“He’s a boy.”

“We’ll see Tiny.” Her mom playfully tapped her nose, “Either way, that baby is loved.”

“Yeah,” Max grinned, “ _He_ is.”


	3. Chapter 3

She slurped loudly on her straw, not paying any attention to the hustle and bustle of people in the mall around her.

She was kicking her feet, still slightly too short to reach the ground when she sat down on the bench. But she had her giant sized frozen caramel macchiato, so life was pretty good.

Max knew she’d have a tummy ache later from the enormous amounts of caffeine and sugar entering her body, but she didn’t care yet. It was yummie and well worth the future aches.

“Uh, hey.”

She looked up with a frown to see a young man standing in front of her. A teenager. Not that much older than herself. He was scrawny with those typical awkward-looking teenage limbs and a big pimple on his forehead. Just a teenage boy.

“Can I help you?” Max asked, obnoxiously slurping on her straw again in hopes that he would leave as fast as he came.

“Do you… do you come here often?” He asked with an odd smile. It looked more like he was in pain.

“Nope.”

The boy seemed a bit taken aback by her curt answer. _Good_.

“Figures, I, uh, I would have remembered seeing you before.”

 “Would you maybe like to grab a drink?” He offered, shoving his hands into his pockets. _A nervous gesture._

Max narrowed her eyes a bit, trying to figure out what he was getting at. She made a point of looking at him, back down to the drink she was holding, and back up to him. Slowly. Trying to make him notice.

“Uh right…” He chuckled at his own ineptitude, Max didn’t find it funny at all, “Maybe something to eat then?”

“It’s four in the afternoon.” Max deadpanned. _What was wrong with this kid?_

“Right, right.” He seemed to have trouble gathering his thoughts, “Well maybe you should give me your number then? For when you do get hungry.”

He held out his phone to her as if it should mean anything.

“I don’t give my number to strangers.” Max grumbled, hoping he would leave. She’d been in uncomfortable situations before, of course she had. But there was something particularly odd about this one.

She couldn’t for the life of her figure out what he wanted from her.

“Oh yeah, sure, I’m Darren.” He gave her another awkward smile, his phone still waving in front of her face, “So, your number?”

“I don’t think so.” Max said, already turning her attention back to her coffee. _Her delicious, sweet, sweet coffee_. Her moms were going to kill her when they found out.

She still noticed _Darren_ though, she was too trained to really lose sight of him. And he wasn’t moving away from her.

His smile turned into an angry scowl, and though Max didn’t really understand why, she was just waiting for him to lash out.

“Bitch!” He snarled, his previous shy nerves seemingly fading away, “I take the effort to come and talk to you and this is how you fucking repay me? No one ever thought you to be fucking polite? You should be thanking me instead of rejecting me!”

Max raised an eyebrow at his outburst.

“You think you’re going to do better than me? I’m the nicest fucking guy out there!”

_Nice?_

Max trailed her eyes over the fuming teenage boy. He wasn’t a threat to her, but she could clearly see that other girls might get intimidated by his caveman attitude.

“Alright, let me explain this in terms you might understand,” Max gave him her best murderstare, “I did not ask you to come over and interrupt my moment with my coffee, so I don’t _owe_ you anything. So if it’s not too much _effort_ , you can take your scrawny ass and move back to whatever pit of hell you crawled out of. _Please_.”

Steam was practically coming out of his ears, and he reached out to grab for her. Max saw it coming from a mile away. She grabbed his wrist before he could get his gross boney fingers near her, and she squeezed. Hard.

He looked a little shocked and Max just grinned, widely. This moment might be even better than her coffee. To put that statement to the test, she casually slurped on her straw, all the while keeping him away from her with just one hand.

“You know, I was pretty polite about that. I said please.” Max shrugged, “I’m not going to be that nice again. Leave me alone.”

She released him and he turned on his heel to get away from her, cursing her out under his breath.

But he was stopped.

By two very angry women.

Natasha and Maria glared, like they would glare at villains or at Tony when she just made something important go _boom_. Arms crossed, wide stance, they looked downright terrifying.

“Excuse me.” He muttered, trying to get passed them.

“Excuse you is right.” Maria’s voice was eerily calm.

“Get out of my way.”

Natasha raised an eyebrow, “Or what? You’re going to threaten us? I thought you were such a _nice guy?_ ”

Max would have felt sorry for him, but she didn’t. Not in the least. She just slurped her coffee and watched the show unfold before her eyes.

“Leave me alone.” He repeated again.

Maria now matched her wife’s expression, that guilty grin that said you might be next for dinner, and not in the fun way, “Leave you alone? That’s not very polite of you. What do you think Nat?”

“I think you’re right.” Natasha agreed with a faked smile, “And after we took all that effort to come and talk to him.”

“What’s wrong Darren?” Maria asked sweetly, “Are we making you uncomfortable? But we’re being so nice to you. Did no one ever teach you to be polite?”

He swallowed heavily, nervous under the harsh stares of the women.

“Leave.” Natasha nearly growled at him, “But I’ll be watching you. If I see you even breath in the direction of another girl, I will hang you from the balcony. Understood?”

Darren nodded, scurrying off like a scared mouse.

“That,” Max grinned widely, “Was so badass!”

Maria shared her smile, but Natasha kept her glare, “Where did you get that coffee kid?”

“I bought it.” Max was proud of herself, “Mom gave me money.”

Maria lost her smile, “I gave you emergency money. For emergencies.”

“It was an emergency… a coffee-emergency?”

Natasha rolled her eyes with a sigh.

“You get everything we need?” Max tried to change the subject.

“We did.” Maria held up two giant bags, blushing a little under Max’s disbelieving stare.

“How much stuff do babies need?”

“Too much.” Natasha smirked, “At least according to your mom.”

“Hey! There’s nothing wrong with spoiling someone you love!”

“And yet I can’t have coffee!”


	4. Chapter 4

_“Who is that?”_

_“She’s so short? Like a freaking toddler.”_

She held her head high, walking by the groups of older teenagers huddled together. She pretended not to hear them whisper about her.

Max never really cared about what people thought of her anyway.

But even she had to admit it was a bit uncomfortable. The uniform they made her wear was still new and stiff, it felt like she couldn’t move properly. _How was she supposed to train like this?_

And then everyone just stared at her. Nobody talked to her, but it felt like they were all talking about her.

Why had she ever agreed to do this? Her fingers almost itched with the desire to call her parents and tell them: “Nope. I’m not doing this. Come get me right now.”

But mama had grinned and mommy kinda cried when she saw her in the uniform, so Max owed it to them to just give it a shot, right?

“Alright Rookies, gather ‘round!” The instructor called, “We’re starting with some basic drills. 20 laps around the field, make them quick!”

The group groaned, but Max didn’t bother slacking. As soon as the order left his mouth, she had taken off. Grumbling about it never made anything go faster.

Despite her damned short legs, she finished first. It earned her an appreciative nod from the instructor and some odd looks from the other recruits.

“Name?” He asked her. Max had noticed he was scribbling down notes during the run, obviously it was some sort of first assessment.

“Max, sir.”

He didn’t seem so pleased with her answer, “Do you have a last name too?”

“Uh Romanoff-Hill, sir.”

The group of recruits quieted for a split second, but then it really started buzzing.

_“Hill? As in Commander Hill?”_

_“Dude she’s Hard-Ass Hill’s kid?”_

_“I don’t care about Hill, she said Romanoff! As in the freaking Black Widow!”_

The instructor looked a bit uncomfortable by the drama he had unleashed, “Alright, that is enough! You’re not in high school anymore! You all took way too long to finish your laps! By next month, you’re doing it in 30 minutes, or you’re not doing it at all! Understood?”

“Yes sir!”

“Dismissed! Agent Peters will be waiting for you at the shooting range. Romanoff, you’re staying.”

“It’s Romanoff- _Hill_ , sir.”

The other recruits left with curious stares and more murmured gossip, but it didn’t bother Max much. She was just worried for own sake.

“You the Commander’s kid?”

“Yes, sir… Why?”

“Curiosity.” He grumbled, “And Romanoff? _Natasha_ Romanoff?”

“Sir, I don’t see how this is relevant?” Max narrowed her eyes, she didn’t like his questions at all. Why would he need to know who she was related to?

He looked her up and down, carefully assessing her. Max recognized the look, he was no doubt seeing the defensiveness of her stance. _Let him._

“At ease recruit. Attacking superiors is a bad idea.”

“Attacking me is a worse idea.” Max countered easily. She’d take him down without a problem.

“You’re definitely a Romanoff.” He shook his head with a chuckle, and Max wasn’t so sure he believed her, but at least he wasn’t glaring at her anymore, “Give Natasha my best when you get home kid. And tell her that chicken soup recipe was a real hit with my wife.”

“Uh… Okay?”

“Go on, she told me you’re a lousy shot.” He actually grinned at her.

Max wasn’t sure what bothered her most, the fact that her instructor knew her mother, that he was capable of grinning or that her mother had told people she couldn’t shoot.

She could.

She’d show them all.

Max jogged a little to catch up with the other recruits, she didn’t want agent Peters to think she was a slacker.

He was nice and he definitely took it easy on them. All they did was assemble their guns, over and over and over again. Max didn’t mind, though the other recruits were complaining about getting cramped fingers.

Max couldn’t really remember the last time she got cramps from such a menial task.

She had done this already, thousands of times when she was only just a child. That was probably the main reason why she dreaded coming to SHIELD academy.

She didn’t want to be reminded of the hours and days she spent becoming what she was now. But things were actually… not so bad at the academy.

It was the same tasks, the same drills, the same barking orders. But when she was done, there was no one screaming at her to do it again, do it faster, do it better, beat harder. Just a little nod of acknowledgement for a job well done.

She could get used to this.

“Hey you!” Somebody yelled and Max instinctively turned to the sound, to see a big guy pointing in her direction, “Yeah, you. The dwarf.”

Max raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. She’d been called a lot worse than dwarf.

“How old are you?” He was rude and brazen, not beating around the bunch, “Think you should be at SHIELD daycare, not the academy.”

He earned a round of chuckles from the recruits around him, like they were his own personal groupies.

“You’re the Commander’s kid.” He stated, “Is that how you got in? Mommy pulled a few strings?”

Max kind of wanted to roll her eyes, make a rude comment or knock his lights out. But a bigger part of her was curious. She wanted to know just how far he would take this pissing contest.

“Cat got your tongue? What? You need a diaper change?” Another round of laughter from the others, “Is it time for your nap?”

“Come on Tobin, let her be. She’s just a kid.” Someone tried to intervene and Max stored his face away for future reference.

But something else filtered through too.

“Tobin?” Max had heard that name before, “You’re agent Tobin’s son? He’s a good man. Didn’t tell me his son was the size of the Hulk though.”

Agent Tobin. Max had only seen him once, at the facility. But Maria had explained that Tobin was actually the one who was supposed to find her and rescue her from the CIA, while Maria and Natasha sat on the sidelines. _That worked out well for him._

The guy, _Tobin_ , narrowed his eyes. Max assumed he was trying to channel anger, but he just looked very constipated to her.

“You don’t know my dad.”

“I do though. He tells the best stories.” Max plastered a fake grin on her face, one she had seen her mama wear so many times, “My favorite has to be the one where he did that raid on a facility with the Deputy Director. You know the story, the one with the Black Widow. And in the end they found a child assassin.”

Tobin clearly didn’t know what to think. His father told him about it, Max had no doubt. Not even a great agent like him could keep something like that quiet. He skipped the specifics, of course, but little Tobin knew.

“You’re not supposed to know… It’s classified.”

“It is.” Max agreed, keeping her voice as sweet as possible, “And yet I know. Exciting, isn’t it?”

Little Tobin didn’t say anything and Max reveled in the slightly alarmed look on his face.

“I know a lot Little Tobin.” She decided that the half-giant definitely should have a ridiculous nickname like that, “Some might say too much. So keep the Dwarf-comments to yourself until you’ve beaten me at something. We have a deal?”

She didn’t wait for his answer, she dramatically turned on her heel and stalked away. _That would shut him up for a while._

“That was awesome!” Someone clapped her on the shoulder and Max nearly decked him out of pure instinct. She recognized his face from before, the boy who tried to get Tobin to leave her alone.

“I’m Gabriel Cruz, hi.” He flashed her a big toothy smile, “You are so cool! Tobin’s a dick but he’s like this freaking giant so nobody goes against him. And he’s like twice your size and you just ground him into the floor like that! It was awesome.”

Max blinked at the boy who rattled so fast she wondered if he even needed to breath.

“Hi.” He repeated again.

“Hi?”

“Good start! Now, try introducing yourself.” His eyes shone with pride about his joke.

“Max.”

“Alright! Awesome! So Max, tell me…” He put her hand around her shoulder and yeah, she still kind of wanted to punch him in the face, “Your mom tells you cool stories about child assassins, huh?”

_Was this guy even for real?_

“Something like that.”

“And you’re even capable of sentences! This just keeps getting better and better Maxie!”

“Max.”

“Sure thing Maxie!”

“I have no qualms about killing you.”

“You wound me Maxie.” He sighed dramatically and Max had to fight the little upward twitch of her lips.

“I don’t do wounding.” Max deadpanned, “I go for the kill.”

He blinked at her, trying to guess if she was serious or not.

“You know for such a tiny person, you carry quite a bit of rage.” Gabriel grinned, he had obviously decided she couldn’t possibly be serious, “Let’s go have lunch. I have peanutbutter and jelly, what do you have? Besides anger issues?”

“A loaded gun strapped to my thigh.”


	5. Chapter 5

Daylight filtered through the crack in the curtains, it was so seldom they got to do this, be together like this, Maria tried to memorize every freckle, every scar that was usually hidden by the dark of the night.

Natasha was beautiful. Sprawled out underneath her, hair matted with sweat and her face devoid of any makeup, because Maria dragged her upstairs before they could even get their morning shower.

She had never looked more beautiful.

Natasha’s fingers tangled lazily in her hair. Maria was slumped on top of her trying to catch her breath but she couldn’t resist her wife’s lips.

“Hmmm. This is nice.” Natasha sighed in between soft kisses.

“We need to play hookie more often.” Maria agreed, “I miss having you around at work.”

“Someone needs to train the new Avengers.” Natasha whispered, kissing a line from Maria’s cheek to her ear and biting softly.

Maria couldn’t suppress the whimper at the teasing bite, “I know baby, but I still miss you too much.”

Natasha’s eyes flickered with mischief, her foot coming up to rub the back of Maria’s calf suggestively, “We have two more hours before the kid comes home, want to show me how much?”

God did she want to.

Maria ground down, kissing Natasha with new energy. She didn’t need to breathe, she just needed to be close to Natasha, to feel her tremble.

Natasha’s arms moved up, wrapping around her neck. The redhead slowed their kiss down, “Take your time baby, I’m not going anywhere. Make love to me.”

Maria could have died just then. It was the huskiness of the demand, and the willingness in Natasha’s eyes.

“I love you so much.” Maria nearly groaned, swallowing Natasha’s response with her lips, “Nattie, Natasha I love you so much.”

Natasha hands danced over her own naked back, scratching her just the way she liked it. It was driving her so crazy, it actually took some effort to keep her movements slow.

They were grinding and sweating and Maria wasn’t sure where her body stopped and Natasha’s began.

Suddenly Natasha snorted in her mouth, pushing her slightly away with wild laughter.

“What was that?!” Natasha nearly had tears in her eyes from laughter.

“What was what?” Maria smile despite not knowing what her wife was laughing so hard about. She couldn’t help but smile, Natasha was so cute.

“That sound baby! You _whined_.”

“I did not!” Maria was certain she didn’t.

Natasha shook her head, still chuckling, but she pulled Maria closer again, “You’re too cute.”

Maria grumbled, she was _not cute,_ but Natasha’s way of distracting her worked wonders. Maria had already forgotten they had stopped in the first place.

She gradually made her way down Natasha’s body, kissing every inch of pale skin she could reach. She even remembered to bite softly at Natasha’s hip, knowing exactly how much her wife loved a little strategic nibbling.

“Shit Maria…” Natasha groaned in anticipation, but before Maria could move in, the redhead pushed her away, “You did it again!”

“I didn’t do anything!” Maria protested, however amusing Natasha found the situation, Maria was growing a little impatient.

“I have _never_ heard you whine like that.” Natasha chuckled, “Are you that turned on?”

“I didn’t make any noise!” Maria grumped. She had barely even whimpered!

“Oh honey,” Natasha pulled on her hair until Maria gave in and kissed her, “Don’t be embarrassed honey. It’s a cute whine.”

“I do not whine.” Maria… whined, making Natasha raise an eyebrow with her trademark smirk.

“Okay baby.”

Maria leaned in for another kiss. But she got distracted by something.

A whine.

“Okay, now I heard it too… but that wasn’t me…”

Natasha frowned, “But we’re alone… Max?”

“No, she would have yelled something rude already.”

They were out of bed in a flash, Natasha chucking a shirt at Maria’s head while dragging boxershorts up her legs.

“Gun.” Maria tossed it over with a warning, and Natasha caught it without even looking up.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

Natasha slipped through the door, using the full grace of the Black Widow. Maria wished she could be as quiet and effective as her wife.

But she was a soldier, not a spy. And she couldn’t do the twinkle toes like Natasha could. So it was an unspoken agreement that Maria would take the back, making sure nobody was going to shoot them in the ass.

They hear it again, louder. A whine and scuffling. Something was moving around their house.

“It’s coming from… there. Max’s room.”

Maria followed her wife dutifully, nerves and dread swirling through her stomach. They only just got this house. She didn’t want to leave it already.

And she definitely didn’t want it blown to bits.

The closer they got to the door, the louder the scuffling became. And was that… _scratching?_

Natasha stuck three fingers up in the air and Maria nodded.

Two fingers.

One finger.

Go.

Natasha carefully opened the door, and they stormed in, guns ready.

Nothing, no amount of training could have prepared them for what they found.

“I am going to kill her.”

“Get in line.”

 

* * *

 

“MINOR ENTERING THE HOUSE! PLEASE STOP ANY UNSPEAKABLE ACTIONS!” Max screamed, letting the door fall shut with a bang behind her.

“Hey mom.” Max smiled at Maria on the couch, “Had fun playing hookie?”

“How do you even know…?”

“You’re car hasn’t moved. So you stayed home. You didn’t tell me you were staying home, so you don’t want me to know. And why wouldn’t you want me to know…” Max grinned with pride, “Next time, please move the car. And please tell me you showered?”

“We didn’t have time to shower.” Natasha grumped, glaring at their daughter from behind the kitchen counter, “You want to know why?”

Max grimaced, “No I don’t want to know why ma! Ew!”

“I’m telling you anyway.” Maria was kind of impressed with how angry Natasha managed to stay, “We were busy keeping an eye on _that!”_

Natasha pointed at the small ball of fur in the corner of the room.

“LORD SNIFFLETON!” Max shrieked, rushing over to the mutt, “How did you get out?”

“She named it. Maria she named the monster.” Natasha complained.

“He’s not a monster! He’s cute.” Max protested, showering the dog with attention.

Natasha huffed, but even she had to admit that it was a pretty cute puppy. He looked like it was supposed to be a Labrador, but he was too short and his white fur had black and brown spots, like a border collie. Honestly, he was just a mix of every possible breed.

“How did you even get that inside?” Natasha demanded, “And how long has he been in your room?”

“I found him yesterday on my way home…”

“And how did you get him in?” Maria repeated her wife’s question.

Max grinned sheepishly, “The tree…”

“That’s it! I am calling Clint and we’re cutting that thing down tomorrow!” Natasha was absolutely seething, “And that thing is going to the animal shelter!”

“Mama!”

“Don’t mama me! You don’t get to decide if we’re taking a pet! This is _our_ home!”

Maria couldn’t stand the sadness on Max’s face, “Nattie… Can we talk about this?”

“No! She didn’t talk about it either!” Natasha pointed at their child, “Honestly, Max, if you had just asked us… But no, you didn’t say anything and you scared the crap out of us!”

“But mommy…” Max turned to her other mother, with big, watery green eyes. It wasn’t fair.

“Natasha…”

“No.”

“Natasha.”

“No Maria.”

“But babe…”

Natasha whined in frustration, “I said no! Stop looking at me like that!”

“But mama, look at him!” Max hoisted the dog in the air, shoving him under Natasha’s nose.

“You’re really not convincing me with that. It stinks.”

“I’ll give him a bath! And I’ll walk him and feed him! Please mama, I’ll do everything.”

“Ugh, fine.” Natasha huffed, but Max cheered loudly, “But! If I have to clean up after him, he’s out! Understood?”

“Yeeeeeeees.”

“Good.” Maria smirked, “Because you’re about to learn why it’s not a good idea to keep a puppy in your room for an entire day.”

“Huh?” Max looked between her mothers.

Natasha was smiling now too, a slightly evil smirk, “You know where the mop is.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short one, but I'll have a longer one ready soon(ish) :-)

Maria met her first, of course. She was thoroughly impressed, but then again she shouldn’t have expected any less.

But now it was time for the real test.

She had requested agents Barton and Romanoff to leave the Avengers facility and head to the Triskelion. And Maria had to put in an official request, she was actually pretty pissed about that one, for cadet Romanoff-Hill to come on over too.

“Agents, cadet, I would like to introduce you to agent Williams. My new assistant.” Maria announced.

A chorus of hello’s came from the trio.

“Agent Williams, these are the agents you’ll have the most trouble with.”

“Maria!” “Mom!” Natasha and Max protested simultaneously.

Maria grinned sheepishly, “She is also my wife and that is our kid. Barton just grew on me. Like a tumor.”

Agent Williams nodded hesitantly.

“Max and Natasha have full access to my office. Barton will find his own way in if it’s necessary.”

“Gee Commander, I’m really feeling the love here.” Barton muttered sarcastically.

Maria glared at the man, “You shot an arrow at my daughter!”

“You told her?!” Clint shrieked, “Bump! You promised!”

Max just smirked evilly.

“Please just shut up.” Maria admonished, “Listen to me, no one will pull any pranks on agent Williams, got it?”

“We would never…”

“Don’t even finish that sentence Tiny. All three of you would. And I’m telling you now, one prank and I’m sending all of you to three different locations all over the world to be on latrine duty for an entire year.”

“You wouldn’t!” Clint gasped.

“Try me.” Maria dared, “I hear Azerbaijan is very beautiful this time of year. At least, if your head isn’t in the toilet.”

Her three agents looked all thoroughly scared of her, and Maria sent them off with a satisfied grin. _She still had it._

“Wait! Uhm… agent Williams?” Max looked the epitome of guilty as she pulled some screws out of her pocket, “You… uh… you might not want to sit on that chair…”

“Max! When did you even do that?” Maria groaned, “You’ve been here less than an hour!”

“Uhm… yeah…” Barton grimaced, “You might not want to turn your computer on agent Williams. Very loud, very weird porn. As soon as you push the button…”

Maria had her hands in her hair, “Okay Nat, what did you do?”

“Flash grenade. Third drawer. Open it and boom.” Natasha didn’t even bother to feel guilty. That prank would have been epic.

“Undo it! All of it!” Maria ordered, “Now!”

The trio rushed to agent Williams’ desk to undo their damages.

“Well agent,” Maria grimace, “Welcome to SHIELD.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is quite angsty and it mentions abuse, so if that's not something you want to read, just wait a little bit longer because I'll post a happy one as soon as my other half approves ;-)

 

Maria rubbed at her temples. It was an ordinary day for her, with too much paperwork and not enough coffee.

The little letters on the pages were dancing in front of her eyes. She never took enough breaks, not even now she had an assistant.

But there was no way she could focus one second longer without taking a sip of fresh air first.

Her bones cracked painfully when she stood, stretching out her back. Not even that supposedly ergonomic chair could protect her from all the hours the Deputy Director sat down.

And the thing was actually pretty damn uncomfortable too.

Maria sighed, she didn’t really want to walk all the way to breakroom, she didn’t feel like putting in the effort. _Maybe she could send her assistant?_

That’d be rude though. It wasn’t the woman’s job to cater to her every need.

“Coffee.” Maria grumbled to herself, “Need coffee.”

She opened her door, her eyes half-closed and her mind somewhere else. She couldn’t wait to be back home, cuddle up with Nattie and Tiny and her stupid puppy, maybe have a beer. And maybe, if Natasha was in a really good mood, maybe she could convince her to let her watch the hockey game.

“LET ME GO!”

“Commander Hill said not to disturb her! You have to calm down!”

“LET GO! LET ME GO!”

Maria rushed around the corner to see what was happening inside her building.

“We’re going to escort you outside.”

“NO! LET GO! LET GO!”

Max was pressed up against the wall, held in place by a gorilla-sized agent while her assistant was berating the girl for barging in.

Max’s face screamed murder as she tried to get out of the agent’s grip. She might have succeeded too if Maria hadn’t intervened.

“Hey! Knock it off!” Maria yelled over Max’s promises of all sorts of bodily harm, “Let her go! I swear to god, let her go or I will tell Natasha about this!”

The agent immediately stepped away from her daughter, and Maria was only just fast enough to grab her little firecracker before she punched his lights out.

“Easy kid, easy.” Maria had to actually put some effort into holding her back, Max seemed just as eager to get out of her arms, “Breathe Max.”

“Let go! Let go! I’m gonna kill him! I’m gonna kill them all!” She had never seen Max so angry before, the rage was just radiating off of her like waves crashing against the shore.

“You’re not going to kill anybody Max!”

Max turned in her arms, getting in her face as best as possible with their height difference, “How do you know? Huh? What do you know about what I am going to do? Huh? Huh! Tell me! What do you know?!”

Max shoved her back, pushed her away. And Maria was completely floored. Never, no matter how upset, Max had never laid a hand on her that wasn’t kind.

Maria looked at her daughter, that seething little bundle of rage. Her green eyes were ablaze with frustration and panic and anger, her feet never stopped moving, her hands balled into tight fists. She was ready for a fight.

“You should be at school.” Maria tried to distract her. She had no idea if that was what she was supposed to do, but she had to try something.

“I can’t stay there.” Max was shaking her head, muttering like she was talking to herself, “I can’t stay. They yell at me. They keep yelling.”

Maria didn’t really know what her girl meant. Who yelled at her? Was she being bullied at the Academy? Max never said anything about that…

“They yell. They keep yelling.” Max wasn’t even looking at her anymore, she was so caught up in her own anger, “He keeps yelling at me. He’s in my head!”

“Max? Who’s _he_?”

Max’s eyes met hers, “He? No, I meant they. They. Not he.”

“Maxie…” Maria was worried.

“His voice. I keep hearing his voice.” Max whispered, hands in her hair, pulling like she was trying to pull out the thoughts.

 _His voice_. Maria didn’t have to ask again who she was talking about. Gérard Michaud. Max’s own personal demon.

It wouldn’t matter to tell the girl he was dead, Max already knew that. This wasn’t about knowing. This was blind panic.

Maria never thought about this, and she was kicking herself for it. Commanding officers who yelled their orders, of course it would do something to Max.

She didn’t complain the first weeks, because it probably wasn’t bad at first. But now, Max had broken.

“Talk to me baby girl?” Maria wanted to beg her for a solution, but she had to at least pretend to be in control. She couldn’t break down along with her girl.

Max kept shaking her head, rocking her body back and forth. And she was just so angry. So angry. Maria didn’t think she had ever seen anyone this angry before.

There was no way Max could ever have a decent conversation, not like this. Her body was just too tense, and her mind was someplace else entirely.

“Okay honey, just follow me? We’ll sort this out, yeah?” Maria could think of only one thing to do. The one thing that helped when Natasha was too caught up in her own memories to function.

They stayed silent on their way over, but Max’s pacing in the elevator made it clear that the girl was still just as frustrated as before.

Maria guided her down the hall with a firm hand on her shoulder, she hoped it would bring Max some comfort. But she didn’t think it worked, the girl just tensed even more.

“Everybody out!” Maria ordered when they walked into SHIELD’s gym. She didn’t want any prying eyes for what might happen next.

The few agents that were inside left them, Maria nodding to them in a quiet thanks.

“Wrap your hands. I need to change.”

But Max didn’t move, and Maria wasn’t going to ask again. She just started changing into her workout gear. She didn’t bother moving to the locker room, Max had seen her half and fully naked more than enough times already. Maria kind of suspected that sometimes Max just sneaked in to watch them sleep. It wouldn’t be the first time that she woke up to find Max staring at them from the door.

Being a parent apparently meant she had to start wearing pajamas to bed.

It didn’t matter now. Not with Max standing there looking like she was being tortured.

In her memories, maybe she was. Maria didn’t really want to know.

Max still hadn’t wrapped her hands, and she didn’t make a move to either when Maria started wrapping her own.

“What are you doing?” Max’s voice was low.

“We’re going to spar. Get that frustration out.” Maria tried not to sound too nervous, but she had never sparred with Max before. She had no idea what to expect from her fighting style.

She only knew the girl was surprisingly strong for her height.

“I can kill you.” The monotone sound of her voice should have scared Maria a little, but she had had this conversation before. Many times. With her wife.

Maria shrugged, “I didn’t become Deputy Director for my looks kid. But nobody is killing anyone today, got it?”

“I could still do it.”

“But I trust that you won’t.”

It was as simple as that. Sure, Maria was a little apprehensive about what they were about to do. Everything she had ever known was _don’t beat your kids_. And now there she stood, wrapping her hands so she wouldn’t hurt herself when she punched her kid.

But she trusted Max. She knew things wouldn’t get out of hand. She had to believe that. And she had to hope that she wouldn’t just scare the girl more.

If her marriage had taught her anything, though, it was that sometimes you just had to punch away your frustration with life.

“Get in the ring.” Maria said, climbing through the ropes herself, “Come on. Get it out of your system.”

Max stared at her, a little uncertainty showing, but she put her hands up anyway, protecting her face.

Maria tried a few light jabs, never touching the little girl in front of her. It just felt so wrong to be doing this. What if she only made things worse?

Max got into her rhythm, almost dancing from one foot onto the other. She was fast, ducking every punch from Maria.

“Come on kid, you can hit me.” Maria goaded, “I can take it. I’ve taken worse.”

She didn’t look like she believed her mother, like it was impossible to be any worse. Maria hated that look on her daughter’s face.

Max took some swings at her, but they were slow and too controlled. She wasn’t giving it her all. And Maria knew this wouldn’t work if Max kept holding back. The girl needed to let all that pent up rage out.

“That the best you got?” She grunted, taking a hard swing at her kid, “Come on then, the cleaning crew punches harder than that. I thought you were supposed to be some super assassin? Come on princess, get your hands dirty.”

Max’s eyes flashed with anger. She never handled taunting well.

She snapped, Maria could clearly see it. And feel it.

Her punches were hard and merciless. Maria could barely dodge one before the other arrived.

She staggered back when Max’s fist collided harshly with her nose. She could feel the blood flowing down her face, but Maria didn’t get the time to wipe it away.

Max’s next swing hit her jaw hard. Maria was starting to regret her decision when Max kept hitting. Fists hit Maria’s face, shoulders, ribs, everything Max could reach.

The girl was fast and agile, and her punches were hard enough to knock the soul out of a grown man. But she was angry and it made her sloppy.

Her defense was off, one punch had barely arrived before the other took off. It left her entire upper body free.

Maria couldn’t take it anymore, not with the blood rushing out of her nose, not with Max’s punches so unforgiving.

She reached out and grabbed Max’s shoulders, pulling her closer and kneeing her hard in the stomach.

Max groaned in pain, sinking to her knees, wheezing for the breath Maria had kicked out of her. It broke Maria’s heart to see her girl like that, especially knowing she had caused her the pain.

But she had to do something. Right?

She rushed after Max, nearly jumping on top of her. Max fought back hard, but Maria managed to pin her to the ground, making sure she had her daughter on her stomach, so she couldn’t headbutt her.

“Let go!” Max struggled against her, but Maria kept a tight grip on all limbs, to make sure Max wouldn’t tear one of hers off.

“Breathe, Max, just breathe.”

“I can’t breathe when you’re sitting on top of me!” Max spat back, wriggling her body in hopes of breaking free.

“Honey.” Maria wasn’t about to let her up, “I want you to talk to me baby girl.”

“About what?!”

Maria sighed, “Anything you want baby. I just want to know why you’re so upset today?”

“I don’t know.” Max grumbled.

“Didn’t you sleep well?”

Max stopped struggling so hard, “I didn’t sleep at all last night.”

“You didn’t come to us?”

“I can’t show up every night mom.” Max huffed, “I’m not a baby.”

“You’re our baby. You always will be.” Maria could feel Max’s frustration, but she wasn’t as tense anymore, “I’m going to let you go now.”

Maria sat back on the hard mats, but Max followed her. She feared for just one second she had judged wrongly, that Max was still too angry. But her girl clambered on her lap, forcing Maria into a snuggle.

“Please come to us next time?”

“I keep… _interrupting_ you…” Max pulled a face, “I really don’t want to see you naked again.”

“I’ve started wearing pajamas for your sake.”

“Then I don’t want to see mama naked again.”

Maria chuckled, “She doesn’t like pajamas, and I’m not going to force her.”

“Gross.”

“I know.”

“I’m sorry.” Max mumbled, “For hitting you.”

“It’s fine, barely felt it.”

Max raised an eyebrow, “You’ll have a black eye.”

_And a swollen nose and probably a whole assortment of bruises._

“Doesn’t matter. I’m staying home from work tomorrow.”

“Why?”

Maria wrapped her arms around her girl, “Because you and I are going to play hookie so we can have naps.”

“I don’t need a nap. I’m not a baby.”

“But you’re always our baby.” Maria repeated, “Ask mama, she’ll agree with me.”

Max blanched, “Mama is going to kill me when she sees you…”

“No she won’t, I’ll explain it to her.”

“How can you be so calm about this?” Max wondered, “I show up here, I threaten people, I beat the living shit out of you and you just act like this is normal!”

“It kind of is Tiny. You went through some heavy stuff, you can’t expect to just walk away from that.” Maria hugged her tighter, “And mama will understand better than you think.”

“Mama never goes crazy like this…”

“Mama has just learned to hide it better. Talk to her Maxie, it might help.”

Max sighed, letting her head fall against Maria’s shoulder, “I… I feel very crappy.”

“I know.” Maria soothed, “Let’s go home? I got my new racing game yesterday, you can kick my ass in it if you want?”

“I think I’ve done enough ass kicking for today.”

“You did not kick my ass.” Maria huffed, “I pinned you.”

“I don’t think it’s broken.” Max prodded Maria’s nose, “I’m sorry though.”

“I know you are baby girl.” Maria smiled, “And you know what? You can make it up to me, by staying home with me tomorrow.”

Max sighed dramatically, “Well, you leave me no choice.”

“I love you Tiny, even when you’re going crazy.”

“I love you too mommy. I so did kick your ass though.”

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The other half has approved ;-)

 

Natasha was perched onto the bed, but Maria couldn’t sit still. She tried pacing, but that made her slightly motionsick, so now she was just bouncing on the balls of her feet.

A human-sized chunk of nervousness.

They didn’t talk, but they didn’t need to. Natasha was there, a little jittery herself, but there. Maria would have definitely gone crazy already if it wasn’t for her quiet presence.

Max wasn’t allowed inside, but Clint was watching her in the waiting room. Maria imagined the man was probably super nervous too.

He was never able to convince Max to call him _uncle Clint,_ so all his uncle-based dreams were shoveled onto their newest sprout.

With a heavy, nervous sigh, Maria leaned against the bed next to her wife. Natasha automatically put her arm Maria, letting her rest her head against her shoulder.

“I’m nervous.” Maria whispered.

“I noticed.” Natasha’s deadpan earned her a chuckle, “It will be just fine though.” Her wife added.

“Still nervous.”

“Yeah me too.”

Maria tucked her head more firmly against Natasha, her nose brushing Natasha’s neck, “How much longer do you think?”

“I have no idea. Soon, I hope. Or I might explode.”

“Yeah, soon.”

They fell back into silence, leaning against each other as they waited in the hospital room for their second child to be born.

It was a closed adoption, they preferred it that way. No traces, just in case. The adoption agency found a young, pregnant girl, who didn’t have the means to raise the baby and who didn’t want to know anything about them or the baby’s future.

It was perfect.

And now they got _that_ call. The one they had been waiting for so long.

Their baby was coming.

But as far as Maria and Natasha were concerned, that baby was taking its damned sweet time.

Maria had always thought missions made her nervous, but she’d take a mission in bumfuck nowhere any day if she didn’t have to sit through this torture.

She just wanted the baby to be there already. In their arms, in their home. She wanted to see him, or her, love them. She just wanted her baby.

“Are we crazy?” Natasha whispered softly to her.

“You’re going to have to be more specific babe.”

Natasha chuckled but didn’t say anything.

“Maybe.” Maria admitted, “I mean, a year ago we were never even going to have children and now we have a teen _and_ a baby. It’s a bit crazy.”

“Yeah.”

“But we do well with crazy.” Maria added, “We work with gods and green giant men and a guy who should have died in the forty’s. Crazy suits us pretty well.”

“Let’s hope so. I don’t think the adoption agency has a return policy.”

The joke earned Natasha an elbow to the side, “Not funny.”

“I know.” Natasha kissed her hair, trying to sooth her, “It’s the nerves, sorry.”

Maria nodded, silently accepting the apology.

“Maria… did you… do you realize that when we go home…” Natasha waved her hands in a meaningless motion, “We’ll have a _baby_ in our car.”

The way her wife whispered _baby_ was just too endearing. It was scared and nervous and completely in awe of the child they had yet to meet.

“You’re driving.” Natasha decided, “I can’t… I can’t drive with a baby in the car.”

Maria chuckled, “I’ll drive.”

“Good.”

They both sighed, happy and scared at the same time. It was a little weird, like the jitters in her stomach just couldn’t decide what way they were going to turn. She didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.

She’d probably cry though.

 _Who was she kidding?_ She’d definitely cry.

But she knew her wife. And she knew that there was no way the Black Widow would keep it dry. She’d probably bawl harder than the baby.

“Any moment now.” Natasha’s voice was shaking and when Maria reached out to grab her hand, she squeezed so tightly Maria thought her hand might break.

But she wasn’t going to take her hand back. No way.

“Yeah, any moment now.”

“I’m terrified.” Her wife whispered and Maria could only nod.

She was terrified too. So scared she didn’t have the words to express it.

“I’m excited too. And very happy. Like, over the moon.” Natasha added quickly, “But terrified.”

“Me too.”

The knock on the door nearly sent Maria through the roof, she jumped so high.

“Oh shit…” Natasha muttered.

“No swearing Nattie.”

“Maria and Natasha Hill?” They nodded and the nurse smiled reassuringly at them, they must have looked ridiculous, “I just wanted to tell you that your baby will be born in about 30 minutes.”

Maria nodded dumbly, a wide smile on her face.

“30 minutes?” Natasha squeaked and the nurse nodded.

“I’ll be back soon.” She smiled warmly, “With your baby.”

The door shut.

And Maria didn’t know what to do with herself. She stared at Natasha, pretty sure she shared her wife’s incredulous smile.

“30 minutes.”

“I’m going to puke.”

Natasha nodded, “I’m going to tell Max. She’s nervous too.”

“Yeah… hurry back, please?”

Natasha kissed her before practically running out, leaving Maria alone with her nerves and hopes.

Those five minutes seemed to last a lifetime, Maria felt she was starting to grey when Natasha came back.

“How is Maxie? Does she need anything? Should I go check on her too?”

“She’s fine babe.” Natasha wore a dazed smile, “She _hugged_ Clint.”

Maria shook her head in faint disbelief, “She hates Clint.”

“I know.” Her smile was of the charts beautiful, “I think she even squealed.”

A wave of relief rushed through Maria. She worried about their first baby, but Max was more perfect than they could have ever anticipated. Maria could just imagine her kid in the waiting room, probably bouncing off her seat with excitement.

“We squealed too, when they called.” The Black Widow and Deputy Director Hill had jumped up and down and _screamed_ when they got that life-changing call.

And they kissed. God they kissed. Until Max actually pulled them apart.

“I love you.”

Natasha grinned widely, “I love you too.”

And then.

And then there was a knock.

Natasha stiffened as Maria jumped up from the bed.

“I have someone who is very eager to meet you,” The nurse spoke softly with a happy smile, a little bundle of blankets safely cradled in her arms, “Congratulations mommies, it’s a boy.”

Maria stepped forward, her body taking over and accepting the baby into her arms.

He was still softly sniffling, his scrunched up little nose showing his displeasure.

“Oh god…” Natasha was pressed up against her, her hand warm on Maria’s hip, staring down at the baby over her shoulder.

Their baby.

Their son.

Maria was barely aware of the tears streaming down her cheeks. It was like her beating heart was out there, laying in her arms. She had never held someone so important in her life, except for her Tiny.

“Wow.”

Natasha reached out, a shaky finger trailing over their boy’s soft tuft of hair.

“Everything went great.” The nurse whispered, careful not to break their moment, “He’s just perfect.”

“He is.” Natasha almost whimpered, eyes watery.

“He’s so beautiful.”

“I’ll leave you two to it. Ring if you need me.”

Natasha’s head shot up, “Our daughter, she’s still in the waiting room. She wasn’t allowed in. Can she visit now?”

The nurse nodded, “How old is she?”

“15, she’s so excited about getting a brother, please?”

“I’ll go get her.” The nurse left with a wide smile.

Their son yawned widely and Natasha damn near died from the cuteness.

“He’s so…” Maria couldn’t finish, but Natasha understood.

“Yeah, he is.”

They were crying, staring at their son side by side as Maria held him close as ever. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to let him go.

“I love you so much Nattie.”

“I love you too.”

There was another soft knock on the door, and Max timidly as she had ever been, and proudly wearing her ‘Big Sister’ t-shirt,  stuck her head inside.

“Can I come in?” It was very endearing and a little weird to see their usually brash and loud teenager move so very carefully.

“Yeah sweetie.” Maria smiled, “Come say hi to your brother.”

“A brother?” Max broke out in the widest grin they had ever seen, “I knew it.”

She stepped forward, using her full assassin-skills to stay quiet, “He’s a bit wrinkly? Is that normal?”

“I suppose so.” Natasha shrugged, “Nurse said that he’s perfect, so…”

“He’s very quiet… Is that normal?”

“Maxie, don’t worry so much.” Maria couldn’t help but smile, “He’s perfect. He’s going to be just fine.”

“Okay, okay, I just… wanted to be sure.”

“Do you want to hold him?”

Max shook her head, “No, nope, noooo. I might drop him or something. You know that if you don’t hold a baby properly, its head can fall off.”

Natasha paled, “No?”

“No of course not.” Maria had to interfere, “His head won’t fall off. He just can’t support his own head yet, so if you don’t support it, he could seriously hurt himself. But his head can’t fall off.”

“Oh…” Max shrugged, “Same difference.”

“It’s not…” Maria sighed, “You can’t hurt him, okay? Mama and I are here. Just try?”

“No, I’m good.” Max refused, even taking a step back to avoid touching the baby, “I… he’s too fragile.”

“Maxie…”

Natasha poked her, “Let her be, she’ll hold him when she’s ready honey.”

Maria nodded, but she felt a small pang of disappointment. Max was so excited to have a brother, why didn’t she just hold him?

“What are you going to name him?”

“David.” Natasha grinned, “David Francis Maxim Romanoff-Hill.”

“Maxim?”

“Seems fitting.” Maria smiled, “You made him possible Max, if it wasn’t for you we’d still be in our apartment thinking _what if_.”

“If you don’t mind sharing a name with your little brother?”

Max shook her head slowly, “I have a brother…”

“You do.”

“Why Francis though?”

“It’s Clint’s middle name.”

Max was about to protest but little baby David cut her off with a loud wail.

“See! He doesn’t want to be named after PigeonFace!”

“Max.” Natasha said warningly while Maria carefully tried to bounce the baby to sooth him.

“Sorry mama.”

“Don’t tease Clint, you know how sensitive he is about his name ever since the incident.”

Max grinned impishly, still proud of how she was able to hack into SHIELD and change _Hawkeye_ into _SeagullButt_ on every single file. Clint damn near cried. It was beautiful.

“Clint loves that boy, there’s no better man to name him after.” Natasha said softly, watching Maria rock their baby, “You know that Maxie.”

“I know.” Max whined, sagging against her mama.

Natasha surprised herself by just how tightly she hugged her daughter, “We love you baby. You’re our daughter, okay? We love you.”

“Love you too mama.” Max muttered, “And you mom.”

“I love you too sweetheart.” Maria smiled, going right back to babbling at the baby, “And I love you too little man, yes I do, mommy loves you. Aren’t you a cute little man? I love you so much.”

“Ma… I think she’s gone crazy.”

“She already was.”

“Hey!”

 


	9. Chapter 9

“Maria? Maria he’s crying again.”

Maria felt like crying too. Natasha was poking her until she woke up with a pathetic groan for the third time that night.

“Then go and comfort him.” Maria didn’t want to snap, but her wife wasn’t making it easy to stay calm. That and the fact that she hadn’t slept through the night for nearly two weeks, Maria was about ready to commit murder.

She could see Natasha’s panic even through the dark of their room, “It’s uh it’s his mommy-cry. He needs you.”

Maria grunted but rolled out of bed, before she would actually throttle Natasha. _His mommy-cry_. Bullshit. Of course it wasn’t his mama-cry, he didn’t have a mama-cry, his mama was too chickenshit to hold him.

Two weeks had it been. Two weeks since they brought David home. And Maria knew he wouldn’t sleep through the night, he was a baby, she understood. What she didn’t understand though, was why Natasha didn’t even dare to come close to their son.

Maria nearly stomped her way to the nursery, not surprised to see Max peering over the crib to stare at her brother.

“He’s crying.” She offered meekly.

“I can hear that.”

Max hadn’t been that much better, expertly avoiding every interaction with the baby like he was a landmine.

“I’ll get his bottle ready.” Max sprinted out of the room when Maria lifted the crying baby up.

“Hey there boo,” She soothed, “Don’t fuss little boy, it’s okay, mommy is here. We’ll get you a nice bottle, won’t we love?”

She could feel Natasha staring at her from the doorway. A part of her wanted to go up to her wife, offer the baby to her. But she had done that every day, nearly every hour and Natasha always came up with a lame excuse.

_I was just going to start the dishes._

_He looks so happy with you, just leave him be._

_I just cut my thumb, I don’t want to bleed on him._

Maria just couldn’t do it again. It was too ridiculous. She tried to calm the wailing baby and she tried to push her frustration with Max and Natasha down.

“Bottle.” Max stormed back in, holding out the bottle for Maria to feed him. That was the only thing Max did, make his bottle. She didn’t talk to her brother or cuddle him or anything Maria had dreamed she would do.

It was tiring. She constantly had to hoist David around, Natasha and Max just following her around like puppies, scared of being left alone with the baby.

Hell the actual puppy interacted with David more than his mama and sister did. Lord Sniffleton was absolutely delighted about their new familymember. Maria thought it was cute, as long as he didn’t try to lick David again. That was just a no no.

Eventually David fell asleep in her arms, and staring at his content little face, Maria knew it was worth it. She didn’t regret having a baby, not in the slightest. He was absolutely perfect. Nat and Tiny were the ones being difficult, not David. She just wanted to knock Max and Natasha’s heads together until they regained some sense.

Carefully, Maria laid him down in his crib, looking at him a little bit longer just because she could. He was so beautiful. And then she walked back out, heading straight to bed, leaving her two assassins alone, slightly bewildered in the corner of the room.

Did she seem angry? Good, that was the point. They ought to know how stressed she was.

Natasha didn’t say a word when she crawled back in bed, and Maria felt the shame radiating off her wife. She knew the redhead couldn’t help it, that it was an ingrained fear that was holding her back, stopping her from enjoying their baby to the fullest.

She wrapped her arms around her wife, letting Natasha curl up against her. She loved her, flaws and traumas and everything. But things couldn’t keep going like this.

And Maria already knew what to do.

 

* * *

 

David was on his back, babbling to himself and chewing on his favorite penguin toy. He was perfectly content on his mat, with Lord Sniffleton at his feet and Max and Natasha on the couch, staring down at him.

Maria was always close by though, they wouldn’t risk being alone with David when he started wailing again.

Were they in for a surprise.

There’s was a knock on the door at exactly 9.30, because Pepper Potts was never late. _Never._ It was slightly unsettling sometimes.

But it was entirely welcome this time. Maria opened the door with an energy she hadn’t felt in days.

“Pepper, you have no idea how good it is to see you.” Maria kissed her on the cheek, because Pepper was the kind of woman to do that, and tried her hardest not to compare herself to the CEO. Pepper always looked impeccably put together. And Maria looked like a hobo compared to her. A hobo who hadn’t slept in 2 weeks.

Pepper gave her a smile, “I think I have some idea. Ready?”

“Yeah let me just go tell Dumb and Dumber.” Maria beckoned her to follow. She didn’t think of Natasha and Max as dumb, not at all. She understood their fear and their nerves. But it was tiring and honestly, they couldn’t expect Maria to do it by herself.

“Babe, Max, I’m going out for a bit with Pepper.” Maria tried to stay casual.

“Okay, I’ll go get David’s carrier?” Max was already getting off the couch, eager to help her as long as it didn’t involve the actual baby.

“No need, we’re going to a spa, no kids allowed.” Pepper intervened.

Natasha’s mouth fell open and Max gave her an odd look.

“You’re kidding right?”

“No.”

“Then go to a different spa!” Natasha tried and Maria felt bad for her. She really did. The absolute terror was clear to see on both of their faces. But Maria had to stay strong in this. For all of them.

“Nattie, you’ll be fine.” Maria tried to assure her, “And I won’t be gone long, okay?”

She kissed all three of her loves goodbye before they could protest anymore and then hastily made her exit.

When the door closed behind her, Maria couldn’t help but wonder if she had just made a huge mistake.

 

* * *

 

The door fell shut just a tad too hard behind Maria and the loud noise made David whimper sadly. For a second, Natasha almost thought her wife did it on purpose, but really, she knew Maria would never do anything to make either of their kids sad.

Another whimper followed and Natasha held her breath, terrified that David was going to cry.

Max was still staring at the door in complete disbelief, and Natasha second her emotions. _How could Maria do this to them?_

“What are we going to do?” Max asked quietly, so quietly Natasha wasn’t sure she was talking to her.

“She’ll be back soon.” Panic was swirling through her chest. She didn’t like this, she didn’t like this one bit.

David’s face was still scrunched up unhappily, an occasional whimpering cry escaping his pouty lips.

Natasha had no idea what to do. If Maria were here, she’d have picked the boy up and soothed him with a soft voice. But Natasha wasn’t like her wife. She wasn’t warm and soft like Maria.

The baby flailed his arms through the air, increasingly unhappy with life. His little whines were starting to turn into full on cries and Natasha wanted to run out of the house to search for Maria.

This was a disaster.

“Bottle?” Max asked, reflecting Natasha’s own panic.

“He just ate… he can’t be hungry yet?”

“Diaper change?”

Natasha shook her head, “No… I… I think he needs attention.”

Max stiffened, “Well… uh… go on then… give him attention.”

“I… How?”

“Wave the penguin at him? Mom does that when she wants to distract him.”

Natasha sighed deeply, sinking onto her knees next to David and wringing Penny the Penguin from his surprisingly tight grip.

“Okay… uhm… stop crying now.” She sounded nowhere near as soothing as Maria did when she jostled the penguin above his face.

It didn’t work. In fact, his wails were only turning louder and louder, his little face red with the effort.

“What do I try now?” Natasha should have felt ridiculous asking the advice of a teenager but all she felt was panic. David just wouldn’t stop crying.

Max grimaced, “Pick him up?”

“But…” Natasha tried to come up with a reason of why that was impossible, but other than _childish fear_ she couldn’t think of anything, “I… How do I do that?”

“Okay, uh, mom… mom puts a hand under his neck and then the other, uh, on his butt? I don’t know mama! You’re the parent!”

Max was clearly affected by her own panic, but Natasha couldn’t do anything to calm her down. Or to calm David down. Or herself.

She was going to have to do this. She was going to have to pick up David. With a sigh that would probably be more suitable for a funeral than for picking up her son, Natasha reached out to him.

But getting a firm grip on a wailing, wriggly baby wasn’t as easy as Maria made it seem.

“No ma, not like that!” Max was watching over her shoulder, “You have to hold his head better!”

“Max, his head is enormous! I can’t hold all that with one hand!”

Max gasped in fear when Natasha made another attempt at holding her own son.

“Max! You’re not helping here!” Natasha’s heart was pounding in her throat, she was terrified.

“I can’t exactly help with lifting a baby!”

Natasha looked at her daughter, “Yes you can.”

“What?!”

“You can. You hold his giant head, I grab his body. We lift on three.” Natasha took a deep breath, feeling slightly calmer. They had a plan of action. They could do this.

“Lift where?! Ma I can not do this.” Max flailed her arms around, “No way! What if I drop him?”

“We won’t tell Maria if we drop him. Now come on, lift on three, put him on my lap.” Natasha grabbed David’s wriggly butt, “Get ready.”

Max grumbled and cursed out the world when she got on her knees to grab David’s head.

“One.”

“He moves too much Ma, this is not going to end well.”

“Two.”

“Wait wait wait! Do we lift on three? Or after three?”

“On three. Max come on! One.”

“No no! On three? Like one, two, lift or one, two, three, lift?”

Natasha sighed, “One, two, three, lift.”

“That’s not on three ma! That’s after three!”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes it does!”

“Fine! We lift after three. One.”

“I don’t want to do this.”

“Two.”

“I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to do this.”

“Three!”

Natasha had never been so gentle or careful before, she even diffused bombs with more force than she was lifting their baby.

Max was grumbling the entire five seconds it took to deposit David onto her lap. But he got there. Safe and sound.

“Hold his head ma, hold his head.” Max was almost cheering her on when Natasha bent her arm to support the baby.

“Okay. Okay. We did it.” Natasha sighed in relief, staring down at David in her arms. It was overwhelming and a little surprising.

David quieted down instantly, staring up at his mama with what Max would forever describe as shock. Like he knew exactly how big of a deal this was.

Max plopped down next to her mother, “That was terrifying.”

“It was.” Natasha couldn’t agree more. But now that the fear was steadily leaving her body, a smile broke free on her face, “We did it.”

“We did.” Max matched her smile, “And we didn’t drop him.”

“We didn’t drop him.”

“You’re so doing the diaper changes though.”

 

* * *

 

Maria left Pepper at the spa. She had paid for two hours more, but the thought of staying away any longer made her heart ache.

She didn’t know it was going to be this difficult.

She had sent texts, asked for updates. But neither of her girls had answered. Maria knew she should have faith in them, she knew in her heart that they would rise up to the occasion. But she was still a little terrified.

The house seemed empty, not even Lord Sniffleton came up to greet her. But all of David’s stuff was still there, and the car was in the driveway. They had to be home.

She made her way through the living room, kitchen, nothing. She looked into the yard, but they weren’t outside either.

Natasha would have the common sense not to take the baby to the training room in the basement, so Maria didn’t even bother checking there.

They had to be upstairs then.

She made her way up quietly, not wanting to interrupt anything. Besides, no matter how quiet she was, she could never sneak up on Max or Natasha. They always knew when she got home.

She checked David’s room first, but it was surprisingly empty. Then she went to their bedroom.

Natasha and Max were conked out on the bed, her wife suspiciously wearing a different shirt than she was this morning. Lord Sniffleton was snoring loudly at the foot of the bed.

And in the middle of her wife and her daughter, little David smiled at her.

“Hey there little man,” Maria whispered, “Did you have fun today?”

David kicked his little feet in response and it warmed Maria’s heart.

She went to pick him up, but she noticed that she couldn’t.

Because his tiny little hands were tightly holding on to his mama’s and his big sister’s fingers.

Maria grinned. Trust that boy to have two of the most dangerous assassins on their knees in a matter of hours.

They were quite literally, wrapped around his pudgy little fingers.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there's something you really really want to see happening in this fic, let me know in the comments :-D


	10. Chapter 10

“Max? Can I come in?” Natasha’s knuckles rapped the door softly.

“Maxie?” She asked again when she didn’t get any answer.

“No.”

Natasha pursed her lips, feeling more than a little out of her depth. Grumpy teenagers turned out to be the one thing no amount of training could have prepared her for.

“Uhm… Alright, I’ll just stay here then? Okay?” She tried not to sound so damn unsure, “Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

“No.”

A smile formed on her lips despite everything, “Can you say something other than no?”

“Go away Ma!” Max growled through the door, clearly not amused by Natasha’s teasing. Besides frustration, Natasha was sure she could detect some strain in the girl’s voice.

“Honey? Are you crying?”

“No!”

“You are crying! That’s it, I’m coming in.” Natasha felt a little conflicted, barging into the girl’s private space like that despite Max’s protests that she should stay away.

That self doubt disappeared though when she saw her daughter curled up on the bed, wiping her tears on the pillow.

“Honey, what happened?” Natasha rushed over to the bed to cradle her oldest child.

“Nothing.” Max sniffled but the way she clung to her mother and the tears she didn’t bother to hide any more gave away how much comfort she really needed.

Natasha held her close, “This doesn’t look like nothing to me baby girl. Did something happen at the facility today? Was someone mean to you?”

Maybe Maria was right. Maybe it was a bad idea to take Max to the Avengers training facility, but Max had expressed her boredom with SHIELD Academy and Natasha just wanted to present the girl with something a little more challenging. She thought it would go smoothly…

But now her head and her heart hurt when she thought of what could make Max cry like this. It must have been something awful.

How had she not noticed?

“You can tell me anything Max, anything.”

“It’s stupid.”

Natasha shook her head vehemently, “It’s not stupid if it makes you this upset.”

Max sniffled again, “Kitty…”

“Kitty Pryde?” Natasha failed to hide her surprise. The young X-men prodigy had been at the facility for a few weeks now, training hard, getting to know her fellow superheroes.

Just in case another apocalypse would strike again.

But Natasha liked the girl. She was smart, talented, paid attention…

“She’s pretty.”

The soft, indignant grumble made Natasha smile.

“Yeah, I guess she is…” Natasha shrugged, “A bit short maybe…”

“Ma, come on!” Max huffed, “She’s a freaking goddess or something!”

A faint blush colored her cheeks as soon as the words left her mouth.

“Oh! You like her?” Natasha guessed.

“I don’t! She’s stupid.”

Natasha shook her head, “No she’s not.”

“She’s not…” Max agreed with a sad sigh, “She’s perfect. And she hates me.”

“She doesn’t sweetie.” Natasha tried to comfort her sniffling teen, “She’s Canadian, she can’t hate. It’s genetically impossible or something.”

“Well, she thinks I’m stupid!” Max insisted.

“Why would she think that?”

“Because…” The girl was mumbling again, “I was sparring with Kate Bisshop. And then she walks in… I got distracted. I faceplanted. Hard. Everyone saw mama! It was awful!”

Natasha could barely hold back a chuckle, “Honey, everyone loses a spar every once in awhile.”

“I don’t.”

“You obviously did today.”

Her comment earned her a halfhearted shove.

“Why don’t you go and talk to her tomorrow?” Natasha suggested instead of teasing Max more, “You’ll see she doesn’t hate you.”

Max moaned sadly, “She’s too cool to hang out with me Ma.”

“Oh come on, what happened to you, huh? You’re always so cocky?” Natasha tried to sooth, “What happened to your confidence, huh?”

“Kitty happened!”

“Don’t be so dramatic Maxie.”

“I’m not being dramatic Mama!” Max groaned, burying her face into her mother’s shirt, “My life is over!”

“It’s just a crush, my little mouse.” Natasha whispered into her dark hair, “It will pass.”

“I’m not going back to the facility tomorrow. I can never go back anymore.”

“Now you’re just being ridiculous baby.” Natasha squeezed her miserable daughter tight, “So you’ve met a pretty girl? Big deal. There are a lot of pretty people out there, what are you going to do? Hide in your bed forever?”

“… Yes?”

“No!”

“But Ma!”

Natasha chuckled, “You’re coming to the facility tomorrow honey, and if you see Kitty, you say hi. That’s it. Not that hard, huh?”

Max glared, “Remind to ask mom how you acted when you crushed on her.”

“Hey! I was super cool about it!” Natasha protested, but god, she did not want her wife to share that story.

“Look Max,” Natasha said sincerely, “I know how scary this is. Especially for people like us. We grew up without love and without someone who just even liked us. And then meeting someone like Kitty or your mom, I know… I felt like I was being turned inside out. All my weaknesses were just out there for anyone to see. I was terrified. And Maria was my best friend, so I didn’t feel like I could talk to anyone about it…”

Natasha had gathered a few weaknesses since joining SHIELD. And one of the biggest ones was finally starting to relax a little in her arms.

“What I’m trying to say is… You’re not alone. We can talk about anything. And… and you’re already so loved, please don’t start to doubt yourself.”

“I don’t doubt that you love me…” Max mumbled.

“But you do still wonder why.” Natasha knew, “I… Don’t tell Maria this… I wonder why too. Why she loves me, why you do. I even wonder why David likes me.”

“Because you’re nice Ma.”

Natasha shrugged self consciously, “I wasn’t always nice Max. But what I’m trying to say is, even if it sometimes feels like you don’t deserve it, I have thousands of reasons to love you, okay?”

“You don’t.”

“I do. So just tell me when things get too much. And don’t slam the doors in this house again.” Natasha reprimanded.

Max had the decency to look a little guilty, “How much trouble am I in?”

“Oh sweetie,” Natasha gathered her back into her arms, “You never were in any trouble. You just made us worry.”

“I’m sorry Ma…”

“I know baby girl.” She kissed the top of her head, “So… Kitty huh?”

“Shut up!”


End file.
